Amerigroup Foundation Makes a Grant to the Centering Healthcare Institute

BALTIMORE, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --The Amerigroup Foundation today announced that, in conjunction with Amerigroup's Public Policy Institute, it has provided a grant of $125,000 to the Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) in Cheshire, Connecticut. The grant will be used for three pilot programs to implement the CenteringPregnancy group care model. The research will produce a study publication highlighting the model's effectiveness in reducing preterm birth rates.

The CenteringPregnancy model changes routine prenatal care, bringing women out of the examination room and into a group care setting. The model incorporates the three design elements of prenatal care – risk assessment, education and support – into one entity.

"We are very pleased to be in partnership with Amerigroup to implement CenteringPregnancy in three clinical practices," said Colleen Senterfitt, MSN, CNM, chief operating officer of CHI. "This important project will include data collection and evaluation and will result in a summary publication to share the experience and lessons learned."

"The Centering model of care has been identified as an innovation that answers many of the challenges of the current healthcare environment," said Sharon Schindler Rising, founder and chief executive officer of CHI. "It is so exciting to work with a group such as Amerigroup who sees the advancement of this model as a way to meet their goals to provide high quality maternal child care to women, families and communities throughout their network."

The first of the three pilot programs is being launched at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). "The University of Maryland Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences is excited to be working with the Centering Healthcare Institute and Amerigroup to bring this innovative and effective model of care to the women of Maryland," said Jenifer Fahey, certified nurse midwife at the University of Maryland Medical Center and assistant professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Several of our midwives have experience with CenteringPregnancy, and we have wanted to offer this great option in prenatal care to our patients and their babies."

"Partnering with the Centering Healthcare Institute exemplifies the Foundation's goal of helping to create healthy communities," said John E. Littel, chairman of the Amerigroup Foundation. "We are proud to support and promote the CenteringPregnancy program and its mission to provide positive outcomes for both mothers and babies."

The two remaining pilot programs will be launched in Amerigroup markets in Texas and Georgia.

About Centering Healthcare Institute

The mission of Centering Healthcare Institute, Inc. is to change the paradigm of health services to a group care model in order to improve the overall health outcomes of mothers, babies, new families and all individuals across the life cycle. For more information about the Centering Healthcare Institute, visit http://centeringhealthcare.org.

About the Amerigroup Foundation

The Amerigroup Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Amerigroup Corporation (NYSE: AGP), a multi-state managed health care company based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Foundation works to create healthy communities by fostering access to health care, encouraging safe and healthy children and families, and promoting community improvement and healthy neighborhoods. For more information about the Amerigroup Foundation, visit www.realsolutions.com/company/pages/Foundation.aspx.